Max Scherzer is confident he has figured out the cause of a nerve issue that has kept him from pitching for a month. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is now ready to start rehab and hopes to return to the mound for the Texas Rangers.
Scherzer said on Saturday that changing his pitching mechanics has reduced the irritation of the triceps nerve, which was only affecting him while he was pitching. He completed a full bullpen session on Friday without experiencing any pain.
“I feel like I can overcome this, because there’s nothing wrong. … I don’t have an injury here. This was just nerve irritation,” Scherzer said. “I feel like I potentially have solved this, and now I can actually build back up.”
Even though the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers are focusing on 2025—having been 10 games back in the AL West as of Saturday night—40-year-old Scherzer said he definitely wants to pitch again this season and plans to continue pitching beyond this year.
“I’ve got to go out there and prove it,” he said. “And if I do, then, yeah, I definitely want to pitch next year. I said that coming in.
I came into this year thinking I was going to pitch next year, so nothing’s changed. Obviously, if I fail at this, you know, I’ve got to rethink, but I don’t think I’ll have to rethink. I think I’ve got to go out there and execute this.”
Scherzer is in the final year of his contract. The Rangers acquired him from the New York Mets in a trade last summer, with Scherzer opting in for this final year at $43.3 million, with New York paying $30.83 million.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Scherzer might be ready as soon as Monday to throw to hitters or participate in a rehab game.
“He’s got a different look about him because he thinks he’s got this cleared up with the arm issue due to the mechanical adjustment he made, so that’s what you like to see,” Bochy said.
Scherzer (2-4, 3.89 ERA), who still leads the majors in strikeouts, last pitched on July 30, when he left after 68 pitches and four innings in St. Louis.
That was just his eighth start since he began the season on June 23 after having offseason back surgery and then dealing with a nerve issue in his arm.
He went on the injured list after his last start due to shoulder fatigue. An MRI showed some inflammation, and Scherzer continued to have setbacks when he tried to get back on the mound.
“I passed every strength test, yet I still couldn’t throw a ball,” he said. “It was the nerve issue again in the triceps, so that kind of set off another chain of events, go see more doctors, had nerve tests.”
Scherzer said there was no nerve damage, and it was found that something must be pinching the nerve when he was trying to pitch. This led to a minor mechanical adjustment, similar to changes he has made during his 17-year major league career.
“It’s usually because of a performance thing,” he said. “I’ve never had my mechanics really cause an arm injury or cause a nerve irritation, and so that’s what was so perplexing to me.”
In his last home start on July 25, just two days before his 40th birthday, Scherzer struck out nine in six innings against the Chicago White Sox. This performance moved him past fellow three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander for 10th place on the all-time strikeout list.
Scherzer now has 3,405 career strikeouts, three more than Verlander, who leads in wins (260) and games started (561), while Scherzer has 216 wins and 456 starts.
